The
Company's operations are located in the Central
Appalachian coal basin, which contains some
of the highest quality reserves in the region. James
River Coal Company ("James River" or "Company") was
formed in 1988 to acquire certain coal mining operations
(McCoy Elkhorn Coal Corporation ("McCoy
Elkhorn") and Bell County Coal Corporation
("Bell
County")) and a coal sales company (Blue
Crystal Coal Sales Company, now James River Coal Sales,
Inc.) from Transco Coal Company. Since 1988, the Company
has established a very competitive position in eastern
Kentucky through a series of acquisitions, including
that of Johns Creek Coal Company (1992), Kinney Branch
Mining, Inc. (1994), Leeco, Inc. ("Leeco")
and Bledsoe Coal Corporation ("Bledsoe")
(1995), Blue Diamond Coal Company ("Blue
Diamond") (1998), Shamrock Coal
Company (1999) and Triad Mining ("Triad") (2005). The Company expanded into southern West Virginia with the acquisition of IRP ("Hampden") (2011) which also added metallurgical coal to their portfolio.

For
more information on James River Coal’s subsidiaries,
please click on the specific mine of interest above.